What are the important events that happened on February 8? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 8: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 8 is the 39^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 327 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is January 26, 2024 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,455,840 minutes has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.

Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘triacontaenneagon’ day.

Aquarius is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 2 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.

The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 4,066 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 8 Historical Events

• 1575 –
  Universiteit Leiden is founded, and given the motto Praesidium Libertatis.
• 1837 –
  Richard Johnson becomes the first Vice President of the United States chosen by the United States Senate.
• 1865 –
  In the United States, Delaware voters reject the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratifies the amendment on February 12, 1901.)
• 1879 –
  The England cricket team led by Lord Harris is attacked during a riot during a match in Sydney.
• 1922 –
  President Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.
• 1924 –
  Capital punishment: The first state execution in the United States by gas chamber takes place in Nevada.
• 1948 –
  The formal creation of the Korean People’s Army of North Korea is announced.
• 1965 –
  After taking evasive maneuvers to avoid a mid-air collision immediately after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean and explodes, killing everyone aboard.
• 1968 –
  American civil rights movement: The Orangeburg massacre: An attack on black students from South Carolina State University who are protesting racial segregation at the town’s only bowling alley, leaves three or four dead in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
• 2016 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Fire Monkey in Chinese astrology.

Who were born on February 8?

• 1552 –
  Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
• 1866 –
  Moses Gomberg, Russian-born American chemist (d. 1947)
• 1903 –
  Aleksander Mitt, Estonian speed skater (d. 1942)
• 1913 –
  Betty Field, American actress (d. 1973)
• 1953 –
  Mary Steenburgen, American actress
• 1960 –
  Stuart Hamm, American bassist (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai)
• 1968 –
  Gary Coleman, American actor (d. 2010)
• 1989 –
  Courtney Vandersloot, American basketball player
• 1994 –
  Nikki Yanofsky, Canadian artist and singer
• 1998 –
  Šarlote Lēnmane, Latvian singer

Who died on February 8?

• 1204 –
  Alexius IV Angelus, deposed Eastern Roman Emperor (b. c. 1182)
• 1772 –
  Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of Wales (b. 1719)
• 1849 –
  France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (b. 1800)
• 1907 –
  Hendrik Willem Bakhuis Roozeboom, Dutch chemist (b. 1854)
• 1987 –
  Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (b. 1905)
• 1990 –
  Del Shannon, American entertainer (suicide) (b. 1934)
• 1998 –
  Halldór Laxness, Icelandic author, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
• 1999 –
  Iris Murdoch, Irish author (b. 1919)
• 2007 –
  Ian Stevenson, Canadian-American professor and reincarnation researcher (b. 1918)
• 2008 –
  Chua Ek Kay, Singaporean painter (b. 1947)